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Lilly Hartley's Candescent Films is launching the multi-year award grant program in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Institute.

Tribeca Film Festival opening-night film Time Is Illmatic -- chronicling the making of hip-hop artist Nas' 1994 debut album -- will be the inaugural recipient of the Candescent Award, part of a new grant program designed to support the making of documentary films.

Lilly Hartley's Candescent Films announced the multi-year award program on Wednesday in conjunction with the Tribeca Film Institute. The grant will be given through the Institute, home of the Tribeca Film Festival, which runs April 16-27.

Time Is Illmatic was directed by multimedia artist One9, who produced the documentary with Erik Parker. Illmatic is one of the most celebrated hip-hop albums in history, and the film explores the social conditions and environmental influences that contributed to Nas' process.

"Time Is Illmatic is a lyrical film that inspires us to overcome social and economic challenges and celebrates cultural history.I am honored to support the heartbeat of this film through the Candescent Award. Candescent's partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute is exciting to me as they provide vital resources to emerging artists and the documentary community," said Hartley, a producer and actress who formed Candescent in 2011.

In January, Candescent announced a similar award grant program in partnership with the Sundance Institute.

“As with all of our grantees, Tribeca Film Institute is honored to have had the great opportunity to work with Time is Illlmatic throughout the film’s creative process -- from giving it a Tribeca All Access grant for production in 2013, through choosing it for a Tribeca All Access Alumni grant for editing in 2014, to now with this Candescent Award to help get it to the finish line,” said Ryan Harrington, Tribeca Institute vice president artist programs. “We are proud to be partnering with Candescent to support more important documentaries in the future.”

Candescent's aim is to produce and finance films exploring social issues. Upcoming movies the company has supported include Gael Garcia Bernal's Who is DayaniCrsital?, Fed Up, Remote Area Medical and HBO's Private Violence. Past projects include Queen of Versailles, Javier Bardem's Sons of the Clouds, Gideon's Army, After Tiller and Likeness, starring Elle Fanning.